Fiancee killer makes new bid for freedom

Fresh evidence has undermined the 1994 conviction of a man jailed for life for drowning his fiancee in her bath, an appeal court has been told.

Henry Keogh had previously exhausted all his avenues of appeal but his case returned to the South Australian Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday.

It now relies on new legislation that allows a conviction to be reconsidered if fresh and compelling evidence comes to light.

Defence counsel Marie Shaw, QC, said a medical board hearing into the Keogh case had established that chief forensic pathologist Colin Manock, who gave evidence at the trial, had essentially adopted a scenario that had been put to him by the prosecution.

That related to bruising on Anna-Jane Cheney's leg and the theory that Keogh had lifted her legs above her head in order to push her face under the water.

"So that entire scenario has now been undermined by admissions by Dr Manock, as well as other experts as to alternative mechanisms that may have resulted in the death," Ms Shaw told the court.

"The underpinning of that scenario has since been shown to be flawed."

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Keogh has always protested his innocence and has previously taken his case to the High Court.

He has also appealed directly to the state government a number of times to have his conviction reviewed.

He claims Ms Cheney's death was a terrible accident.

Prosecutor Ian Press told the court on Wednesday that there was no one currently working in the Director of Public Prosecutions who had been involved in Keogh's trial, so it would be necessary for someone to read the entire transcript before the crown could determine how to proceed.